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Tale Of Three Farmers: Story (Podcast)

In my past life as a VP of a national sales unit, I would create allegories to teach a lesson. My managers and I had fun preforming the allegories in a meeting, or we’d include them as a general theme in our business plan. One of these was called “The Tale Of Three Farmers”. They were always well received. Many of our staff would ask when we were going to create another.

I thought it would be fun share one these allegories. You will find it in written and podcast form. To view my very first podcast called “Tale Of Three Farmers” click on the link below. (Note: You may need to turn up your volume a bit to ensure you can hear the podcast to its best advantage.) Enjoy.

Tale Of Three Farmers

There were three farmers you live near each other. Framer Earl, Farmer Latt & Framer Fister.

Farmer Earl rouse early every day with a smile; worked his field, took good care of his animals, his newly planted seeds and growing plants.

Farmers Latt & Fister would rise late and visit other farmers to discuss their displeasure with Farmer Earl and any other farmer who wouldn’t join in.

Every Saturday all the farmers would come together to shop for their needs and discuss the news from other farms. Farmer Earl would seek out other farmers to find out what had been successful or what had failed. Farmers Latt & Fister spent time discussing their woes, their bad soil, poor seeds, grumble about other farmers who had good luck and their plight with the crows.

Aw, the crows, there were many and in competition with the farmers. They were pretty smart because they’d watch the farmers and would go to the farms that were left unattended. They found these farms to be the easiest to steal the newly planted seeds or to eat their harvest.

Farmer Earl would work or walk his fields and plant many seeds to ensure a good harvest. He knew if he did this he would spot early signs of trouble; enabling him to make any necessary changes or plant more seeds to ensure a good crop. He also knew he would be more successful at keeping the crows away from his seeds so that they would grow, thus keeping most of what he planted. This all resulted in having a great harvest. His good fortune made he and his family very happy. Because of his success, a great many local farmers sought out his highly prized advice.

Farmers Latt & Farmer Fister had little good fortune and would meet with each other often to discuss their bad luck and complain about the other farmer’s good fortune. While doing this, the crows were able to steal a good many of their seeds or remaining harvest. Farmers Latt & Farmer Fister had some success but generally their harvests were very meager.

This went on for some time. Then news came to Farmer Fister that Farmer Latt was selling his farm. He was even more surprised to hear that Farmer Earl was going to buy Farmer Latt’s farm. This made Framer Fister very unhappy, so he went to Farmer Earl to find out why he would buy such a bad farm.

Farmer Earl listened and then sighed. He stopped Farmer Latt from complaining and gave him this advice.

To succeed you must:

Rise early every day

Plant many seeds because not all will grow.

Visit and work your fields often to spot trouble and scare the crows away.

Don’t make it easy for the crows to steal your seeds and eat your harvest.

Be patient, it takes time and effort to grow a healthy crop.

Seek out successful farmers for their words of wisdom and follow their advice.

Some times things fail. You’ll succeed more often if you work at it every day.

When Farmer Earl finished giving his advice, he turned to work in his field, leaving Farmer Fister with his thoughts.

The moral of the story, Tale Of Three Farmers, is obvious. We reap what you sow. What we’re willing to put into our farm (or life) is up to us and our success will follow suit.

I have learned a ton making the Tale Of Three Farmers podcast. I had a blast creating the images, finding the sounds, the music, creating the opening and the close. I do hope you’ve enjoyed my podcast. I would love to hear your thoughts about my creation. I would greatly appreciate any feed back you may have regarding how I could make it better and more enjoyable for all you who visit and listen. My goals is to constantly keep improving so that your experience is the very best possible when you visit my site.

What lesson have you learned from a story or allegory? How do you teach someone something of value?

Thanks SOO much Merle, I’d love it if you would spread the word and comment on YouTube as well.

http://twitter.com/geekgirlusa Cheryl Therrien

I actually commented on this on your YouTube channel. Shared too! Well done my friend!

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Cheryl, Thanks a bunch my friend.

Jon Jefferson

I like the story. How long did all the illustrations take?

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thanks Jon. They took awhile. The illustrations are usually where I spend the bulk of my time.

Julie

WOW. This is so cool. You should do more of these. Love, love, love it.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thanks Julie, I’m doing a happy dance. I am so glad you enjoyed it.

http://www.patricia-weber.com Patricia Weber

A story telling metaphor – in video now. Your illustrations are a perfect accompaniment for the medium.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi patricia, I as glad you like it. Is this something I should do more of?

Debra Watson

What a great reminder. Perfect timing. Thank you Susan.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hey there Debra, Thank you so much. I’m so glad you liked it.

catarina

As usual your illustrations are great. Really like your podcast! The only thing I would have a look at if I were you is making podcasts shorter. One or two minutes would be optimal.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Catarina, Thank you and thanks for the feed back. I think your right. I will do my best to do that in the future.

doreenpendgracs

Well done, Susan. I wasn’t familiar with the term “allegory” previously, although I had a vague idea as to what it was. It’s a good reminder to take a child’s fable and apply it to adult challenges. We keep facing the same challenges throughout life. They just wear different clothes and have different faces. Loved your illustrations as always.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Doreen, Thanks. I very much agree. Lesson, no matter the form, can really help us when we received them in an entertaining way.

A.K. Andrew

Fantastic Susan! Well done on grabbing the bull by the horns & making a podcast. And a brilliant idea to use your illustrations. What a lot of work! It is indeed usually true that we reap what we sow.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi A.K. Thank you. It’s a lesson we all know but often ignore. I find that I need reminding every now and then… LOL

Loren Dalton

Great job, Susan!! Keep up the great work!! Be looking for mine soon (as I told you a while back). Unfortunately, I don’t have all of those illustrations.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thank Loren, I can wait to see your creation as well.

http://twitter.com/JeriWB Jeri Walker-Bickett

Looking mighty professional today! You even added in sounds related to the farm, and the intro and closing music and text are so polished. As a viewer/reader I’m okay with videos like these that stay under five minutes, but three minutes might be a more user-friendly length to aim for. Anything shorter than that, doesn’t allow enough story to come through, though preview posts can be great lead-ins for the full story that will appear in print. There are just so many possibilities

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Jeri, Thank you my friend. There really are some great possibilities. It will be fun to see where this can be taken. Stay tuned.

Liz Blackmore

What can I say? My little girl is growing up – sniff..sniff….! You make me proud, Susan. This is a great venture and you definately are going to start to reap. BIG hugs and a hearty congratulations to you!

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Aw, thank you SOOO much Liz. Your support always means so much to me. Hug back my friend.

Liz Blackmore

I only have one suggestion. Is there any way to bring up the volume on your speech? Clarity is fantastic, the accent or enhancement layers come in great. Once again, good job, Susan!

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thanks Liz, I was going to do that but alas I hadn’t save the final file before I imported it to a move formate. Sigh. We learn as we go.

Elizabeth Sott

Susan,
I remember preforming the live version of this wonderful story. It was a huge success then. I absolutely love the artwork. It really brings the story to life.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Elizabeth, It was a fun thing to do at that time. You are always such a great help to me, so thank you my friend.

http://joannerambling.wordpress.com/ Jo-Anne

Wow I enjoyed listening to this I hope you do more posts like this one

Wow, what a lot of work this must have been. Great podcast Susan. This reminded me of “Who Moved My Cheese” which is often used by organizations to discuss change. I’m hoping you will also consider making it into a book and allowing it to act as a facilitation tool. Great job.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Debra, Thank you. I love “Who Moved My Cheese” and used it often when training a new team preparing them for the onslaught of change.

That is such a cool idea. I will put some thought in to that.

http://bloggingwithmegan.com/ Megan Broutian

I love it!! Great job!

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hey There Megan, Thanks so much.

http://writespeaksell.com jeannettepaladino

Susan — Congratulations. So much work. Love your illustrations, as usual. Adding to two comments already posted — I found it a little difficult to understand and also I would shorten your next podcast. But great job for your first podcast!

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thanks Jeannette, I so appreciate your feedback. I had made a mistake and deleted the final template that would have allowed me to increase my voice volume… sigh. I’ve never done that. However, I did a bit of experimenting and found if I turned up my volume I could hear it pretty well.

Like everything else, It will get better with time.

Wendy Merron

Susan – I loved it! I can’t imagine though, how long it took to do those lovely illustrations. You have great suggestions above and I know your next one is gonna really sing!

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Wendy, The illustrations took a while but it was a labor of love so it never feels like work. Thanks so much for your kind thoughts. Stay tuned.

Karen Koblan

So cool! I really like your podcast, you did such a good job! Definitely do more.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thanks Karen, I do hope to do more.

the Spruiker

Nice story; we all know the story as you pointed out but it’s good to come back and be reminded of these home truths.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thanks Laura, We do, but it would seem it’s something we need constant reminding… LOL.

Bethany Lee

Love this Susan! Your pictures are so colorful and creative–of course! And love the farmer story. THe summary slide was very good. I love how you took the story and colorful images and turned it into a serious learning lesson. For a first podcast, I say you were successful!

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Behtnay, Thank you so much. I am so happy you liked it. Your thoughts made my day.

Love the podcast. I think I sound weird on recordings but you sound perfect.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

I think you underrate how you would sound. I was nervous too but other, like you, seem to think I sound OK. So do give it a try.

Pat Ruppel

Hi Susan – wanted to check out another podcast of yours and it was cut short to only 49 seconds both here on your site and YouTube. May be my problem – don’t know. Just thought I’d pass it along. Wondering if anyone else had that problem. Doesn’t appear they did from your comments.

Elizabeth Scott

Hi Pat,

I am a friend of Susan’s and I haven’t had a problem with the pod cast. I have watched this one and also Reflections and both have been fine. You can also subscribe to her You Tube account and view them there.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Thanks for checking Elizabeth.

Pat Ruppel

Thanks Elizabeth – I’ve been having querky things happening lately and attributing it to that. I start to watch Susan’s video and originally it shows in its full time (about 4 mins) I think. But, in viewing it, the time changes and it cuts off around 49 seconds. Can’t figure it out and it’s probably my browser.

http://findingourwaynow.flywheelsites.com/ Susan Cooper

Hi Pat, Thanks for the heads up. I checked my setting and it seems all is OK. Check your internet connections or setting. It may be something really simple that could be causing you a problem.